Artur Beterbiev returned an ‘atypical finding’ in a drugs test last month, but his world title fight with Britain’s Callum Smith WILL go ahead this weekend… as the unbeaten Russian-Canadian insists he’s a ‘clean athlete’

Artur Beterbiev reported an ‘atypical finding’ in a VADA drug test in December, but his highly anticipated light-heavyweight clash with Callum Smith will go ahead after further tests came back negative for performance-enhancing drugs.

Beterbiev and Smith meet Saturday in Quebec in the postponed fight, which was rescheduled after the Russian-Canadian was convinced to postpone an August fight after undergoing jaw surgery.

But tensions surrounding the fight have increased with the revelation that a recent drug test conducted by Beterbiev on December 6 contained elevated levels of HGH and testosterone metabolite 5D-androstanediol.

As reported by Kevin IoleBoth substances occur naturally in the body, and after undergoing more tests, Beterbiev returned negative results on two sets of blood and urine tests.

With Beterbiev’s test being atypical rather than ‘unfavorable’ the fight will go ahead as planned, but the unified light heavyweight champion was keen to emphasize that he remains a ‘clean athlete’ when news of his result broke.

The Russian-Canadian is due to fight Callum Smith on Saturday and the fight will go ahead

In a fierce statement, the 38-year-old warned his opponent that attempts to muddy the water with commentary on the results would not be taken lightly.

“It has come to my attention that Callum Smith intends to spread misleading information regarding my VADA testing for this fight,” Beterbiev said. ‘Let me be clear: I am a clean athlete.

‘I have never tested positive for a banned substance in my entire career. Any attempt to imply otherwise, by innuendo or suggestion, is defamatory and libelous. This behavior goes beyond acceptable nonsense.

‘Callum is already looking for excuses, looking for a way out. See you Saturday.’

In discussing the result, Smith had been vague, saying his opponent had not “succeeded or failed” with the atypical finding.

“It’s not a passed test, it’s not a failed test,” Smith told Boxing News. ‘The fight is still going on, that’s the most important thing. I’m not a scientist, I’m a fighter.

“I’m here to beat him, take his belts and go back home.”

Smith’s promoter Eddie Hearn also seemed stunned by the findings on Thursday evening, but emphasized that nothing could be done ‘contractually’ about the result.

Eddie Hearn called for more transparency as he said he wanted to find out ‘why’ atypical findings had been seen in the test

“Not a negative finding, an atypical finding, but still elevated levels which as a promoter of a fighter on the other side are concerning,” Hearn told Fight Hub TV. ‘So we’ve been working with VADA to try to understand the reasons for this.

“It’s all up to you to do your research and they will want us to be careful about what we say.

“What we want to know is – we’re not scientists – we just want to know why these levels have increased and we’ll continue to ask the questions we’ve been asking VADA,” Hearn continued.

‘Contractually, we cannot do anything about it as it was not an adverse finding, but an atypical blood and urine result with elevated levels of HGH and testosterone.’

However, VADA founder and president Dr. Margaret Goodman was keen to clear up speculation about wrongdoing in her statement that atypical findings are relatively routine on repeat drug tests.

“Atypical findings are quite common with PED (performance-enhancing drug) testing and do not constitute an adverse test result,” Goodman told me. Boxing News.

‘They can have different causes. Atypical findings usually warrant further sample collection. But no negative inference should be drawn from an atypical finding in itself.”

The 38-year-old has a fearsome knockout record that he will look to extend against Smith

A win in Quebec could set up a light heavyweight bout against Dmitry Bivol

Beterbiev prepares to meet his opponent with a brutal 19-0 KO record, the only current world champion to hold this honor.

Victory against Smith could set up a meeting with another fighter from Hearn’s stable, Dmitry Bivol, with Hearn confirming to reporters on Thursday evening that a fight for the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight world titles could be take place in Saudi Arabia after being successful at the Center Videotron.

But Hearn has spoken ahead of the match about his talent’s capabilities, claiming on Thursday that Smith will ‘take out’ Beterbiev.

“Like a face-down knockout,” Hearn added. “He comes against the ropes and Beterbiev comes in like he does, he’s going to mess up his feet, and Callum is going to do what he does best, which is catch-counter with the left hook. One punch knockout.”